The Final Chapter
by Shizuka-chan16
Summary: What if Kenshin's death had occured differently than that of the Seisouhen? This is my version!


A/N- Okay, it's me Himurajiani17 (formally known as Shizuka-chan16). Here is my newest fanfic, inspired by the movie "Big Fish". Oh, and that means it's about Kenshin and Kenji (a different kind of ending to the Seisouhen)  
  
DISCLAIMER- I don't own Rurouni Kenshin or it's characters. They belong to Watsuki-sensei and Shonen Jump. Don't sue me.  
  
THE FINAL CHAPTER  
  
Never before did a spring day seem so breath-taking to Himura Kenji. While he sat there in the garden, he could not help but smile slightly, feeling the caress of the warm, soft breeze, a breeze that swept sakura petals from nearby groves and towards the Kamiya dojo. And the sky, oh how tantalizing it was. The sun was just beginning to set, taking with it the bright blue and leaving an incredible array of reds, oranges, yellows and even some pinks. It was tremendous to behold indeed.  
  
But alas, it only eased the adolescent on the surface, something quite apparent as he sighed and peered back over his shoulder. There was no hiding the grave concern and slight confusion in his bright blue eyes.  
  
Behind him was the shoji to a certain bedroom, one he waited patiently to enter. In fact, he was still wrestling with whether he wanted to go in or not. For inside, laying on a futon, was someone whom he had no idea how to feel about. A part of him loved him, as it was only natural, but another part of him hid that from the world, or perhaps covered it up with a misunderstanding hate.  
  
A watched pot never boils. Kenji learned this and was caught off guard when the shoji finally opened behind him. Instantly, he whirled around, causing his high-set ponytail to spin and bang his forehead. Perhaps it was in need of a trim.  
  
"Okaasan,"  
  
Kaoru acknowledged his presence with a warm smile, as always. When was she never smiling for him or...that other individual?  
  
Kenji rose to her feet, gazing up at her. In the months he'd been apart from her, she had deteriorated so greatly. No longer could she stand with her back arched and proud. No words could be spoken unless accompanied by a series of coughs. She did not appear without the pale complexion, the dark circles around her once lovely eyes, nor the ugly lesions on her skin. Still, she stayed strong and regal, for the sake of her loved ones.  
  
"He wishes to see you, Kenji." She told him, voice hushed and gentle.  
  
"Yes," He prepared to duck past her and into the room, but she caught his sleeve, stopping him immediately.  
  
"Kenji," Kaoru rasped. "Onegai...listen to what he says. All right?"  
  
Kenji nodded and opened the shoji door. The evening light poured past him and into the room. It was this light that allowed him to look upon a person he hadn't since, well, before he could remember.  
  
Kenshin lay there on the futon, covered by a thick blanket. It was only when he heard the door slide shut that his eyes opened, eyes that Kenji couldn't help but stare into. They were eyes that had seen almost 50 years of battle, scars, hate, and blood, eyes that were filled with guilt, pain, and sadness. But they were also eyes that shined with his smile, as they did in that very moment as they fell upon his son.  
  
"Kenji,"  
  
That voice, a sound that remained etched in Kenji's memory since he was a child. It was a light, small voice, one that perfectly matched his built, as well as his disposition. There was never a need for it to change.  
  
Kenji bowed his head slightly and instinctively knelt down close by. Close it was, so Kenshin needn't crane his neck to look at him, but with a little distance in between.  
  
"You've grown so much...and such strength I'm sensing..." Kenshin's smile widened. "How is Shishou?"  
  
"His hair grays and he has a fondness for sake unlike any man I've ever known." Kenji replied, a little stiffly.  
  
Kenshin laughed a little. "Heh, aside from the gray part, I suppose not much has changed." Then, his smile faded. "But...with these times of peace...there is no need for such a sword practice..."  
  
"I never finished. I don't plan to."  
  
"Have you learned what true strength is? That...was your...primary goal...was it not?"  
  
"How did you know?" Kenji asked, a little surprised.  
  
"Ah Kenji, when I was...your age...such a goal...was my own...But I chose a deadly path...to find it..."  
  
"Why did you give up your sword?"  
  
Kenshin closed his eyes. "I suppose...you don't quite know...the whole story..."  
  
"Yes, I suppose not."  
  
"My breath is short...but I will say this...I would have gone on killing...had my humanity not been restored to me..."  
  
"Your humanity?"  
  
"Those who kill...if they kill for too long...they become monsters...monsters who can only be stopped through death...But someone...special...came along...and stopped that from happening..."  
  
"Someone special? You mean Okaasan?"  
  
"Your mother...she has preserved and protected my humanity...but my first wife...she brought it...to the surface..." Kenshin's eyes seemed to cloud a little as he gazed up at the ceiling. "It is she who sheathed the killing sword...and reshaped it...into a new sword..."  
  
"You were married before, Otousan?" Kenji gasped. He never knew this about his father.  
  
"Aa...but I myself killed her..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"It was her death...her last smile...that told me to continue on...and begin a new life on the road...to atonement..."  
  
So this was why Kenshin insisted on helping others. This was why he was always gone, helping the unfortunate and weak.  
  
Kenji looked down, shame in his expression. "Is that why...you...?"  
  
"Kaoru...your mother...she told me otherwise...that I did deserve you...and her...and Yahiko...and the others...It took me all this time...up to my dying breaths...to begin to believe that...though it is difficult still..."  
  
"Otousan..."  
  
Kenshin suddenly began to cough. His hand sprang out from under the sheets to his throat as a jolt of pain rippled through him.  
  
"Otousan!" Kenji darted forward and lifted his father so he could sit up. Instead, Kenshin had no strength left and slipped over against him. Kenji tensed, and not because of his unfamiliarity with his father. No, he no longer was unfamiliar with him. "'Tousan...I...what can I...?"  
  
Kenshin, temporarily recovering from the fit, opened one eye to him. "If I may be of the trouble...the sakura grove..."  
  
Kenji nodded, a growing light of fear in his eyes. He carefully slipped one of Kenshin's arms over his shoulder, lifting him. Then, he pulled him to his feet, pushed open the shoji door with his foot and began the short, but long walk to the grove.  
  
From the window, Kaoru and Megumi watched, Kaoru with tears in her eyes.  
  
Moments later, Kenji found a place under one of the larger trees and placed Kenshin down. His eyes remained open and they took in this new setting with a cheery nostalgia. "The sakura petals...they're in full bloom..." he declared softly.  
  
"Yes, quite a sight," Kenji agreed, sitting down next to him. From the back, they looked exactly the same, two redheads in matching garments, sitting in the shade of a sakura tree. And for quite some time, they remained like that.  
  
Finally, Kenshin drew a long breath. "Kenji...I'm sorry...for..."  
  
"Don't," Kenji intervened abruptly, but then sighed. "Don't apologize for never being here, for leaving us alone." He smiled a little. "It's not like we're alone now."  
  
Kenshin took in his words and smiled back. Then, his head drooped, so much so that his chin touched his chest.  
  
"Tousan?"  
  
No response.  
  
Kenji placed a hand on his father's shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. Perhaps he had dozed off, lulled by the sunset and all. But then, Kenji, in his growing concern discovered something.  
  
The cross scar on his cheek! It was gone, the skin healed as if it never existed. And somehow, Kenji, the boy who never understood his father, understood. And this realization brought tears to his eyes, tears he never thought he'd shed.  
  
"Tousan...it's over...You're free now..." 


End file.
